Monday, June 30, 2008

On J. R. R. Tolkien: a biography by Humphrey Carpenter

I absolutely loved this book! For many years I have been an avid fan of all things Lord of the Rings. I have read Lord of the Rings (which is NOT a trilogy :D) many times. I have also read The Silmarillion , The Hobbit and several of the posthumously compiled volumes of the History of Middle Earth.

Carpenter weaves together the different facets of Tolkien's life with the mythology for which Tolkien was most known for and which was so close to Tolkien's heart. The part of the book I enjoyed most was the first part which told about Tolkien's earliest years. This time had the most profound effect on him, or so he says. I tend to agree with him. So many different individual aspects of all of his works can be traced back to Tolkien's childhood and early adolescence.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who loves Tolkien or learning about influential authors.

1 comment:

Karlene said...

Thanks for the review. I don't read a lot of biographies, but this one I'd certainly consider.